Back to Seoul

We head out to the train station to catch a bullet train back to Seoul.  

We swing by the Gyeongbok Palace in downtown Seoul and snap a few shots of it lit up at night. Another train ride later and we're back at the Incheon airport, and board our red-eye flight to Kuala Lumpur.

Tomorrow we'll back on Christmas Island.  It seems like we've been gone for longer than 5 weeks, partially because it feel like we've gone through an entire season cycle - summer to winter and now back to summer.  Miss all the folks we had to leave back home, but feels good to back on the island, too.

It's our last full day in Busan, and we start 'er off by making some breakfast for Mary in her apt. Arthur whips up some of his famous latkes.

We head out to the fish market, and are taken aback by the sheer volume and variety of stuff to be bought.  Like this octopus that climbed out of its water bucket.

We take a little visit to the Contemporary Art Museum.

Which happens to be very close to.... SpaLand!  We cap off our trip some spa goodness.

Geumjeongsanseong

Arthur and I take a day trip to an old fortress wall within the city of Busan.  Our trip starts off with a sweet gondola trip up the mountain.

The South Gate of Geumjeongsanseong.

if you can't read that, check out this.

The walk supplies frequent view of the skyscrapers of Busan pushing up against the surrounding hills.

A panoramic shot of the hills around Geumjeongsanseong.

I pose on the old fortress wall in the traditional Korean picture-taking posture: fingers in a "v" up to the face.

We come across the foundation of an old lookout and have some fun with it.

On the way back down, we find a small Buddhist temple, with some cool rock carvings and statue.

The view from the temple.

A reflective image of the ornate gold temple within, and Arthur taking in the view outside.

The gondola takes us back to Busan as the sun sets.

We meet up with Mary for dinner, and eat at a delicious tofu place across the street from her apt.  At first my body struggled a bit with the spicy, pickled foundation of Korean cuisine; now, it seems, it's starting to crave it...

We have a blast visiting Mary and her school, and sitting in on a few of her Kindergarden classes.  The kids are crazy cute and crazy demanding, as only kids be.  It's been fantastic this trip to be able to see firsthand what Mary's Korean life is like, and to see how happy she is doing it.  Only wish I remembered to snap some pictures of the school and the kids.

Haedong Yong Gung Temple

Anthony and his family are moving to Seoul in a month, and Anthony's father asked if he could serve as a Busan tour guide for the American travellers.  Mary's boyfriend, Jeon, made the drive in from where he works, and we all meet up at a Buddhist Temple on the sea, the Headong Yong Gung Temple. 

You are first greeted with statues of the Chinese zodiac, and Mary and visit our fellow zodiac animal, the goat.  Apparently this means we're http://www.chinesezodiac.com/goat.php

We, along with swarms of other people, head down the series of stairs to the Temple.

It's a beautiful temple in a beautiful setting.

 Anthony and his father.

Anthony also joins in a picture of Mary and Jeon.

A picture of a glass-fronted display case of old artefacts and the reflected images.

Hard to pass up a picture with two big gold pigs and their big gold bums.

Mary and Anthony chilling with the pigs.

Anthony's dad takes us out for a beautiful traditional Korean lunch.  Unfortunately Jeon's boss called him back to work (on a Sunday! and after making him work on Saturday!) so we don't get much time to spend with him.  Mary knows of a pick-up frisbee game happening later that day, and Arthur and I are super stoked to be able to play some ultimate. We top it all off with a trip to Spaland, a crazy extensive spa with hot water baths, saunas, yoga areas, eateries, massages, etc.  With entry costing something like US$14, we may have to make a return trip...

Big midwestern smiles in eager anticipation of our spa visit.

Chilling in Busan

The next day we take 'er easy and wander around the neighbourhood, finding ourselves in a pastry shop. 

Mary and I pose with fabulous new glasses, looking as smart and sexy as ever.

For dinner we head to a sushi place, and just like the one we visited in Japan, it has the sweet conveyor belt that brings your meal to you.  While we're there, we run into one of Mary's students, a very precocious and energetic Anthony.